What do you mean it’s too late to drop a class? I forgot I was even enrolled!

If that’s part of the conversation you’re having with the registrar this far into the semester, you might be in trouble. But never fear. It’s not over until the fat lady sings…or the TA enters the grades. If you’ve over-slacked it this semester, there still might be a way to save your grade.

1. Talk to Your Teacher.

This is by far the most important rule of grade-saving. Talk to your professor. Apologize profusely. Throw yourself at his or her feet and explain why you suck at whatever subject they teach. As a former TA, I can attest that I was far more willing to help kids who actually came to office hours to ask for help than the ones who fell off the face of the earth, only to reappear during finals (or, in one case, after I’d left for the semester) and expect another chance.

2. Ask About Revisions, Re-Takes, and Extra Credit.

Many writing classes offer revision options, and, depending on the class and the prof, you might be able to finagle a test re-take. More and more frequently, classes are offering chances to drop your lowest grade. Pour through your syllabus, and see if you are elligible for any of these options. While you’re at it, it my be a good idea to revisit the attendance policy and see if any points are being shaved off due to the fact that you haven’t been to class since September. Then, follow step 1 and throw yourself at your professor’s feet, offering to do any amount of work just to scrape by with even a D-.

3. Cry N’ Lie.

This is the enhanced version of Talking to Your Teacher. Let the waterworks begin. Tell them any sob story about how this semester was so difficult. You had family problems, you haven’t adjusted, blah, blah, blah. Even if they are a total hardass, your teacher might relent enough to give you a low-but-not-failing grade, provided you come through for exams. If that doesn’t seem to work, turn on the tears at the registrars, or, better yet, Mental Health services. If you can give enough reason to have suffered a trauma during the semester, you might be able to drop at the last minute, or get a bye for exams and re-take them the next semester. This is very hard to accomplish, however, and, if you have any morals, should really only be used if you really DID have some crazy sh*t happen this semester.

4. Study Your Freaking Face Off.

If your prof isn’t susceptible to excuses and extra credit opportunities, you’ve got no other option but to master a semester’s worth of lessons in a couple of days. You better hope your grade on that final is enough to pull you out of the sea of failure. It might not work, but if all else has failed, this is your one last chance to escape and leave that class behind you forever.

For more tips and tricks for college classes, join CollegeCandy’s Facebook group!

[Photo courtesy of unstained.files.wordpress.com]

I remember in my senior year of high school, one girl was found to have plagiarized part of a paper from the internet. Not only was she suspended; she had to deliver a speech in front of the entire class, explaining why plagiarism was wrong.

Princeton has been particularly aggressive on the cheating front in the same way. We have honor code meetings, have to write a page on matriculation illustrating our understanding of it, and get regular updates from the honor committee. All the same, when I arrived there I discovered whole new layers of gray areas.

In problem set classes, for example, there are plenty of people who like to work in study groups. That’s all well and good, except when “study groups” turn into “let’s just copy the answers off each other.” I thought that kind of behavior was only in the occasional math class, but I was surprised to learn that it’s much more prevalent in college. When all that matters for your future career is that good grade in an Orgo class, it can be extremely tempting just to write down the process and answer of your friends, whether you understand it or not, and worry about the final exam later.

I’m not taking a holier-than-thou position on this, either. I’m just lucky I’m not tempted in my classes. As an English major, I don’t have much opportunity to enter the grey area of cheating short of blatant plagiarism, which offends my sensibilities as a writer. I’m curious how fellow students feel about the study group phenomenon, however. When the chips are down in a really tough class with a really tough grader, would you copy the answer of a friend on a problem set?

I have friends who specifically take the classes of people they know just so they can hit them up for answers on a regular basis. I find it disturbing, but I also acknowledge that not every college class is going to reach the ideal of “I just take it to learn!” Some classes are a grind and are meant to be endured rather than enjoyed. But how far will today’s college student go to endure them?

Last year I was on the receiving end of some of the grey area-cheating. I took a class with a friend that was heavy on the paperwriting. I was accustomed to this, but my friend wasn’t. He took to sending me drafts the night before the deadline, pleading for revision help. On a couple of occasions, I gave revision suggestions. Then I told myself that enough was enough, and I wouldn’t do it anymore. I don’t think giving revision help is cheating at all; it’s not giving any direct answers, and at Princeton you can get revision help from the teachers right up until the day the paper is due. But it still made me cautious about how much help to offer.

Nowadays, with the ease of the internet, it seems like the grey area of cheating or plagiarism has expanded hugely, and the good ole-fashioned honor code is struggling to keep up.

Where do you draw the line?

[Photo courtesy of reviewjournal.com]